Luke 16:19-22

The terrestrial scene, Luke 16:19-22. It embraces four portraitures which, taken two and two, form counterparts of one another: the life of the rich man, Luke 16:19, and that of the poor man, Luke 16:20-21; then the death of the former, Luke 16:22 a, and that of the latter, Luke 16:22 b. The description of the rich man's life presents two prominent features: the magnificence of his dress, πορφύρα, the upper dress, a woollen garment dyed purple, and βυσσός, the under garment, a tunic of fine linen; next, the sumptuousness of his habitual style of living, a splendid banquet daily. This description of the life of the rich of that day applied to the Jews as well as to the Gentiles. Nay, among the former, who sometimes regarded wealth as a sign of divine blessing, the enjoyments of that privileged state must have been indulged with so much the less scruple; so the Pharisees in particular seem to have done (Luke 20:46-47).

After the rich man, who first claims attention, our eyes are carried to the unhappy man laid at the entrance of his house, Luke 16:20-21. The Greek name Lazarus does not come, as some have thought, from Lo-ezer, no help, but from El-ezer, God helps; whence the form Eleazar, abbreviated by the Rabbins into Leazar; and hence Lazarus. This name, according to John 11, was common among the Jews. As this is the only case in which Jesus designates one of the personages of a parable by his name, this peculiarity must have a significance in the account. It is intended, doubtless, as the name so often was among the Jews, to describe the character of him who bears it. By this name, then, Jesus makes this personage the representation of that class of the Israelitish people which formed the opposite extreme of pharisaism poor ones whose confidence was in God alone, the Aniim of the O. T., the pious indigent.

The gateway at the entrance of which he was laid is that which conducts in Eastern houses from the outside to the first court. The word ἐβέβλητο, was thrown, expresses the heedlessness with which he was laid down there and abandoned to the care of those who were constantly going and coming about this great house.

The crumbs denote the remains of the meal which the servants would sometimes throw to him, but which were not enough to satisfy him. The omission of the words τῶν ψιχίων by some Alex. arises from the confusion of the two τῶν by an ancient copyist; these words are wrongly rejected by Tischendorf; they are to be preserved as the counterpart of the drop of water, Luke 16:24. The nakedness of the poor man contrasts with the rich man's elaborate toilet, as those crumbs do with his banquets. The words ἀλλὰ καί, moreover, which indicate a higher degree of endurance, forbid us to regard the feature of the dogs licking the sores of Lazarus as an alleviation of his miseries. Besides, this animal is never represented in the Bible, nor among the Orientals in general, in a favourable light. The licking of the poor man's unbandaged wounds by those unclean animals as they passed, is the last stroke of the picture of his nakedness and forsakenness.

To the contrast between the two lives there soon succeeds that between the two deaths, Luke 16:22, which introduces the contrast between the two states in the life to come. Lazarus dies first, exhausted by privations and sufferings. That very moment he finds in the heavenly world the sympathy which was refused to him here below. In Jewish theology, the angels are charged with receiving the souls of pious Israelites, and transporting them to that portion of Hades which is reserved for them. Abraham's bosom, a figure also common among the Rabbins, denotes either intimate communion in general (John 1:18), or more specially the place of honour at a feast (John 13:23); this is naturally assigned to the newlyarrived stranger, all the more that his earthly sufferings demand a rich compensation. Abraham presides at the feast until the Messiah comes to take the first place, and the feast of the kingdom begins (Luke 13:25). Meyer concludes, from the fact that the interment of Lazarus is not mentioned, and from the object αὐτόν, him, that he was transported body and soul to Abraham's bosom. But so early as in the Targum of Canticles, we find the distinction between body and soul: “The righteous whose souls are carried by angels to paradise.” The pronoun αὐτόν thus designates only his true self, the soul.

The burial of Lazarus is not mentioned, for it took place without ceremony, or perhaps not at all. The body, claimed by no one, was thrown to the dunghill. The contrast to the rich man is evident. No angels to transport his soul; but for his body, on the contrary, a splendid funeral procession.

What is the crime in the life of this rich man which accounts for the terrible condition described in the following scene? From the fact that it is not mentioned, the conclusion has been drawn that it must be simply his riches. The Tübingen School says: he is condemned as being rich, and Lazarus is saved as being poor. And M. Renan thinks that the parable should be entitled, not the parable of the wicked rich man, but merely of the rich man. Here, it is said, we meet again with the Ebionite heresy of Luke (De Wette). But how has it escaped observation, that if no crime properly so called is laid to the charge of the rich man, his misdeed is nevertheless clearly indicated? and it is no other than the very existence of this poor man laid at his gate in destitution, without any relief being brought to his wants. Such is the corpus delicti. The crime of the life described Luke 16:19, is the fact referred to Luke 16:20-21. Every social contrast between the more and the less, either in respect of fortune, or strength, or acquirement, or even piety, is permitted and willed by God only with a view to its being neutralized by man's free agency. This is a task assigned from on high, the means of forming those bonds of love which are our treasure in heaven (Luke 12:33-34). To neglect this offer is to procure for oneself an analogous contrast in the other life, a contrast which shall be capable of being sweetened for us no more than we have ourselves sweetened it in the life below.

It would be hard to understand how, if wealth as such were the rich man's sin, the celestial banquet could be presided over by Abraham, the richest of the rich in Israel. As to Lazarus, the real cause of the welcome which he finds in the world to come is not his poverty, but that which is already pointed out by his name: God is my help.